Raising the Lion
by LaguNerd
Summary: Laguna Loire was clumsy, stumbled over his words, and had a leg that cramped up regularly...but to Squall he was the best dad anyone could ever ask for. (Modern day verse, single dad Laguna raising Squall!)
1. Sledding

A/N: Finally posting this set of drabbles! I've had this in mind for ages, just had so many ideas for chapters and never finished any till now, lol.

Basically, modern day single dad Laguna raising Squall! So tons of cute ahead...and some sad stuff too mixed in. Squall will range from around 4 or 5 all the way up to 17 or 18. For this first one he's around 6 I think...

Fun little trivia? This was the drabble that spawned the whole idea for this series! So fitting that it's the first drabble to finally be written! I think the next one will be sad, as that's one that's closest to being done.

Also open to ideas any of you have!

Title: Sledding

Words: 365

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Squall peered down the hill warily and then turned back towards his dad, biting his lip.

"Are you scared, Squall?" Laguna asked gently.

"A little..." Squall admitted.

"Don't worry", Laguna whispered in his ear wrapping his arms even tighter around him, "I've got you."

The boy nodded firmly and braced himself as his dad kicked off, sending their sled careening down the hill. At first he was stiff, tiny hands clinging tight to his father's jacket before soon the screams of fear turned into screams of pure joy as he felt the frigid air rush past him. They soon slid safely to a stop at the bottom of the hill and breathlessly Squall turned back to Laguna, grey blue eyes wide with excitement. "Again?"

They ended up sledding until the sun had set and the air turned freezing around them and eventually Laguna started to drag his son back to their car, with promises to come back the next day. Squall was still pleading for more even as his eyes were drooping and he stumbled over his feet. Laguna sighed and picked him up, swinging him easily onto his shoulders before Squall small legs collapsed under him. Despite protests still leaving his lips, Squall was resting his head on top of his father's and yawns were stretching his mouth wide.

"Don't worry, once we're home and warmed up….I'll make some hot chocolate, how does that sound?"

Squall's eyes lit up, fingers tightening on Laguna's shoulders in happiness, his dad made the absolute best hot chocolates….full of extra chocolate syrup and chocolate chips and topped with all the marshmallows you could ever want and mounds upon mounds of whip cream. He licked his lips in anticipation as he pumped his fist in the air with a loud and enthusiastic "Yeah!"

"You gotta stay awake though, think you can do that?"

"Of course I can, I'm not tired at all!"

Despite his promise Squall's eyes were shut tight before they even made it home, and despite his warning Laguna still woke him up for the treat before tucking him securely into bed, snow steadily falling down outside the window, promising more ideal sledding weather the next morn.


	2. Artwork

A/N: Okay, sad one will be next chapter? Lol, came up with this the other day and just wrote it out all in one sitting. That's pretty rare for me! But yes, Laguna would so be the type of parent to do this XD

Also one of the rare times you'll get really young Squall, I'd estimate him at 3 at the most here!

Enjoy a guest appearance by the ever stoic Kiros btw!

Title: Artwork

Words: 447

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"Squall….what are you doing?"

The young toddler looked up from where he was crouched in front of the living room wall, alarm showing on his face as he realized he was caught. Guiltily he dropped the crayon that had been clutched in his tiny hand and tried his best to hide his mess with his body, which was rather ineffectual given his small stature. Behind him, spanning as high as he could reach on his tippy toes, were dozens of looping swirling lines of varying color. Squall had discovered how well crayon worked on the walls.

Instead of reprimanding Squall though Laguna just walked over and assessed it for a moment, hand at his chin as he hummed thoughtfully.

"Quite well done, if I say so myself."

Squall looked up surprised before a smile burst across his face at the praise. He stepped back though when his father suddenly crouched down and plucked up the crayon that he had dropped.

"Blue huh? Not bad!" He then handed Squall back the crayon before shuffling through the others that were scattered around, a large grin on his face. He carefully selected two more before holding them up before his son.

"Red…..or purple?"

A tilt of the head as Squall raised questioning eyes up to his dad, not quite understanding where the man was going with this.

"….what for?"

"Why….for my addition to this masterpiece!"

A moment of stunned silence before he brightened, beaming up at his father before enthusiastically pointing to the purple one. Soon father and son were side by side, attacking the wall with vivid strokes of random colors and having the time of their lives. Having so much fun of course, that neither heard the knock at the door. Nor did they hear someone letting themselves in soon after.

"Laguna…..dare I ask what it is you two are doing?"

The two froze before turning around and facing the newcomer with twin guilty faces. Laguna glanced down at Squall for a moment, Squall mirroring the look before he spread his arms out wide and exclaimed happily.

"We were…..creating!"

With a high pitched giggle, Squall tried his best to imitate his father with his tiny arms splayed out to the sides.

"Cweating!"

Kiros just face palmed, having sadly gotten used to coming over to increasingly odd situations at his best friend's house.

The mural that to some rare few might be called modern art but to most would just be called trash, stayed up for quite a few years until Kiros finally managed to convince Laguna to paint over it. It would still be immortalized though in the dozens of photos Laguna had taken of it, of course.


End file.
